The past cannot be escaped.

Edwidge Danticat argues that the past cannot be escaped in her novel The Dew Breaker. The past cannot be escaped because it is such a core part of a person is that it largely dictates why they have ended up in their present situation. The past is something which haunts each of the characters in the novel for different reasons.

Ka’s father is haunted by his past as a torturer and murderer under state authority for the dictator for Haiti. Over time, his confidence in his work faded, until the killing of a preacher against orders caused him to snap and flee the barracks where he served. He finds his conscience through Anne, their marriage, and their daughter. However, he bears a physical scar across his face from the night of the preacher’s death, and he carries the guilt of...